African American Fiction Mystery

A hard-working daddy's girl, Precious Cummings is sure she's going to college. But when her father is murdered, she discovers he lied for years about money they never had - and hid a shocking family secret. Shattered and lost, she starts hangin' with savvy hood chick Keisha - and falls hard for DaVon, LA's most powerful drug dealer. As his new lady, Precious soon gets the best of every luxurious thing - and fast learns the ropes of her lover's lethal hustle.

A science experiment turned dangerous. A secret life is later revealed, a life of immortality. Anton is a handsome immortal, driven by blood thirst, created from poverty, and loneliness in the late 1970’s. After living many years in isolation, Anton has a grand revelation. He decides his lonely, miserable life has lasted far too long. Overwhelmed with depression, he’s ready to end it all. Planning his demise, he puts together a bucket list, and once the list has been completed, he plans to call it quits. What he never expected is that while he's busy trying to end his life, he’d find ...

Comprising two distinct short novels - Monroe's Nightmare in Paradise and Bad Luck Shadow from critically acclaimed Victor McGlothin - Borrow Trouble is a hot double-feature that perfectly showcases each author's unique style.

Three friends. One slim chance to beat the streets. But even when you fight your way out by any means necessary, cold hard cash is still no guarantee you'll escape....

𝑺𝒂𝒓𝒂 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒆𝒙𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒓, 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔. 𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓, 𝑴𝒂𝒓, 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 ...

Akia (Kia) Masters has been backed into a corner by the love of her life’s father, Anton Morales. She will do anything to protect her family, even if that means giving up what she wants the most, a life with Santano“Tan” Morales. Tan knows that something is going on between Kia and his father but is not sure what. Tan has a lot on his plate with trying to keep his ex-wife’s advances at bay and finding out the secrets his wife and father are keeping from him. Will Kia trust Tan enough to confide in him? Sable Mills thought she had escaped her troubled past life in Nashville. Her ...

𝑨𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓'𝒔 𝒇𝒖𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍, 𝑴𝒂𝒓 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓, 𝑺𝒂𝒓𝒂, 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒎 𝒔𝒉𝒆’𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒆𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝑺𝒂𝒓𝒂 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆, 𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒃𝒚 𝒂 ...

Now that she’s returned to New Orleans for Thanksgiving break, Viva is charged with figuring out the truth behind a mysterious bout of illness traced back to a local creole restaurant called Madame Bouchard’s. Were customers poisoned on purpose, or was it a simple cooking mistake? And who could be behind the chaos? Viva only has a week to solve the culinary mystery, and to do so, she’ll have to contend with a longtime rivalry, rumors of voodoo magic, and Thanksgiving dinner with her extended family!

Identity thief Lauren Kelly thought she was safe. The millions she stole from her double-crossing accomplice and ex-lover Matt Connors bought a quiet upscale life for her; her unsuspecting new husband, Drake; and their precious baby. But betrayal was just the beginning. When both Drake and the baby go missing, it's courtesy of a vengeful Matt. Lauren has less than 24 hours to give him back the money. She's prepared for any payback - but nothing can keep this exchange from going all-the-way wrong.

Sixteen-year-old Diamond "Ray-Ray" Jenkins has it made in the shade, until one wrong move by her parents turns their lives upside down. Their secret of taking from the wrong street King in the Trap, Damien Orlando, has now put her in peril. The death of her parents signals an end to Diamond's semi-perfect life, putting her in the hands of evil. Her only salvation is to learn the game, and to put her trust in a kid wearing a hoodie.

The Baptiste sisters, Chante, Darla, and Whitney, all have their own lives to live, but there’s one secret that the three have been keeping from everyone since the night their father disappeared. Can the three keep their secret hidden, or will they be exposed for the crime they committed? Chante the oldest of the Baptiste sisters. She was considered the mother figure and has protected Darla and Whitney since their mother passed away ten years ago. While she has a family of her own, she is always bailing out her sisters, which puts a strain on her marriage to DeMarcus. But what could ...

Cops can make mistakes, even when they're not rookies. Deeply traumatized by a shooting incident, Cass Raines resigned from the Chicago PD, leaving one less female African-American on the force. Now she's the head of a one-woman private investigation agency. She also plays chess with the only father figure she's ever known, Father Ray Heaton. When Father Ray asks Cass to look into a recent spate of vandalism at his church, she readily agrees to handle the case. But only hours later she's horrified to discover his murdered body in the church confessional, a dead gangbanger sprawled out nearby.

Just when Aja and Ro were starting to heal and fall in love; the unthinkable happened and they are torn apart. Aja is missing and Ro is devastated and driven into an unstable condition. Can he find Aja in time before he loses himself? Ace has been in love with Kyra since they were young. He had given up on her and moved on with Camille. When circumstances start to lead him back to Kyra, her secret comes out devastating him. Will he forgive Kyra and choose her? Or will her secret lead him to stay with Camille? Akia and Ray have always been the perfect couple. But cracks start to form when ...

Carmen has gotten her wish. Renee is no longer queen. Being stripped of her title and the power that comes with it, Renee must start from scratch and rebuild what she once controlled. Having turned their backs on one another, Renee's once strong circle is now dismantled, and each individual is after what ripped them apart - Carmen. Carmen's making it hard for them to capture her and doing whatever she must to survive. Renee wants revenge along with everyone else, but will she achieve it, or will she die in battle without the help of Julian and Dane?

The D-City crew has had their share of up and downs, but nothing like the drama that they are facing now. Kyra and Ace are both devastated to learn that their daughter has been kidnapped, and that Shelly, Kyra’s mom, has been killed. Will their grief tear them apart? Or draw them together? Akia has always been a killer. Now that Ray has taken their daughter, Akia is in beast mode! Can Tan handle Akia the Killer? Or will he throw in the towel like Ray? Ro/Viper thought that he was getting everything under control. He and Aja are engaged, about to start a family, and he is getting help for ...

Three individuals are at the pivotal point in their lives – Ashley, Gethambe, and Lana. And somehow, their lives will soon intertwine, but not all parties will get their happy ending. Ashley’s world came crumbling down around her on July 17th. That was the day that she would face her husband for the last time. He had filed for divorce and had moved on to share his life with another woman. Around that same time, Gethambe, a half breed human and wolf, found that he needed to prove himself to his pack and take an epic journey from death to life. During this journey, he must fight seven ...

Blanche White returns to Farleigh, North Carolina for the summer to help her best friend with her catering business. It's a homecoming rich with the potential for new romance and fraught with the pain of facing the man who raped her at knife-point years ago but was never prosecuted for the crime. Shortly after Blanche arrives, a young woman is murdered and the clues point to the rapist. Blanche investigates, determined not to let him get away with another crime...nor is she willing to let his money-hungry sister marry a sweet, mentally-challenged man for his wealth.

Gangsta Divas puts listeners on the streets of Memphis, where gang wars are heating up thanks to the arrival of dangerous new players - the Cripettes. Ta’shara is planning to knock her sister off her perch and climbing to the top of the game. Qiana’s deal with the devil places her directly in the crosshairs of forces ready to take her out. And Queen G LeShelle’s list of enemies keeps on growing. But for these gangsta divas, it’s all part of the game - one they’re determined to win.

Essence® best-selling authors Kiki Swinson and De’nesha Diamond are two rising stars in the world of urban fiction. Heist presents two novellas starring young women hustling their way to the top of the game through daring robbery schemes. In Swinson’s The Ultimate Heist, pampered Shannon Marshall is accustomed to a big-money lifestyle. Her world is shattered, however, when her man is thrown into prison for gun running.

Shannon Mitchell gambled that betraying her husband's biggest heist ever was her way out of the game for good. Losing that bet put her in lockdown - and at the top of Todd Mitchell's revenge-fueled hit list. Now she'll work every seductive move and lethal play to survive. 'Cause when it comes to wreaking her own vengeance, this devious beauty isn't taking any prisoners....